▮ FUTURES DESK
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Futures Session Clock

Is the market open right now? Live Globex and Regular Trading Hours status, converted to your local time automatically.

Your local time
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Chicago (CT)
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CME Globex (electronic session)
Sun 5:00 PM – Fri 4:00 PM CT · daily break 4–5 PM CT (Mon–Thu)
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Equity index RTH (ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, YM, MYM, RTY)
8:30 AM – 3:15 PM CT, Mon–Fri
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Metals & energy RTH (CL, MCL, GC, MGC, SI, NG)
~8:30 AM – 1:30 PM CT, Mon–Fri (varies by product)
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Hours shown reflect standard CME Group schedules and are for reference only — they do not account for holidays, early closes, or exchange-announced changes. Always confirm exact hours at cmegroup.com or with your broker before trading around an open, close, or halt.

Understanding Globex vs. RTH

CME Globex is the electronic platform nearly all futures trade on today, and it runs almost 24 hours a day — from Sunday evening through Friday afternoon, with a short daily maintenance break. "Regular Trading Hours" (RTH) is a narrower window inside that session, historically tied to the old floor-trading pit hours, and it's still where the bulk of daily volume happens because it overlaps with the underlying cash market.

Trading outside RTH — the overnight or "Globex-only" session — tends to be thinner, with wider spreads and more headline-driven moves. Many day traders restrict themselves to RTH specifically because of this liquidity difference, especially on index contracts like ES and NQ.

Frequently asked

What time does the futures market open?

CME Globex opens Sunday at 5:00 PM Central Time and trades nearly continuously until Friday at 4:00 PM Central Time, with a one-hour daily maintenance break from 4:00 to 5:00 PM Central, Monday through Thursday.

What are Regular Trading Hours (RTH) for futures?

RTH is the highest-volume window that overlaps with the underlying cash market. For equity index futures like ES and NQ, RTH is typically 8:30 AM to 3:15 PM Central Time. Metals and energy contracts have earlier RTH windows. Exact times vary by product and can change, so confirm on cmegroup.com.

Are futures markets closed on weekends?

Yes. Futures are closed from Friday at 4:00 PM Central Time until the new week's session opens Sunday at 5:00 PM Central Time, and on official CME Group holidays.